I assumed that Falcon Ridge would ship alongside Broadwell in late 2014 but I just got word that the new Thunderbolt controllers will begin production by the end of this year and ramp volume through 2014. I don't have more specific dates than that, but it's still good news.

My reading of the announcement is that though 20Gbps Thunderbolt (2?) isn't due until 2014, the integration of Thunderbolt 1 into Intel's controllers will happen this summer with Haswell.

Hmm, reading that again, it seems like you might be right. But as far as I know there's are no Haswell parts scheduled to ship this summer with more than four cores or with multiprocessor support. So that would still leave Apple in the same boat they've been in this whole time: no workstation-class processors which can live in a system with Thunderbolt. (Unless Apple has some way around this, but then why haven't they done it already?)

Here's the Intel NAB presentation. The next gen 20 Gbps Falcon Ridge is due next year. The new Redwood Ridge is "Targeted for upcoming systems with 4th generation Intel Core Processors". It is not tied to Haswell and should work fine for a new SB-E Mac Pro if that is what Apple wants to deliver.

E3s are "workstation-class" (whatever that means) and released in line with the regular Core lineup, but yeah they're not in the same class as the higher end 6+ core/multi socket parts.

They're just the Xeon version of the Haswell release with 2 memory channels and up to 4 cores and single socket only. There are some models without integrated graphics. They use a different chipset than the consumer cpus and support ECC memory. These are the rumored models.

I'm lost in all those CPUs and codenames. What can we expect in xeon-based towers, assumming these are released this month or the next, as rumors indicate? "Haswell" E3, "Sandy Bridge" E5, something else?

I'm lost in all those CPUs and codenames. What can we expect in xeon-based towers, assumming these are released this month or the next, as rumors indicate? "Haswell" E3, "Sandy Bridge" E5, something else?

Based on the Tech Report article, I would expect the E5 processors to be in the MacPros as they are the processors designated for dual socket systems. E7 are targeted at four socket systems which seems a little excessive even for Apple.

If Apple wanted to 're-imagine' the Mac Pro as a smaller machine, it's interesting how far they could take that now. They could have 'good, better, best' models with, say 6, 8 and 10 cores, without needing to go dual socket. Plus, 20 Gbps really does make Thunderbolt viable for nearly everything except GPUs — and even with GPUs you'd only see a noticeable hit with particular workloads, I suspect.

For some reason (I could be wrong), there are no single socket systems that support the E5 nor anything less than quad-socket that support the E7. I thought that was the way Intel intends for it to be, so there won't be any 10-core single socket systems.

For some reason (I could be wrong), there are no single socket systems that support the E5 nor anything less than quad-socket that support the E7. I thought that was the way Intel intends for it to be, so there won't be any 10-core single socket systems.

I'd love to be proven wrong though.

Single socket Socket 2011 boards are readily available, and I believe current E5 processors, at least, work just fine in them.

Apple will announce its replacement for the company’s Mac Pro lineup this month, a source who has been correct about Apple product matters in the past has just informed us.

Our source offered no information as to whether the “Mac Pro replacement” would be a tower, mini-tower, or some other solution, but did caution that the announcement “could slip into May or even June, but currently April looks most likely.”

We cannot independently corroborate this information, so this item has been categorized as a rumor.

Paper thin to be sure, but nice to have a good old-fashioned hardware rumor for this thread.

But if they were to release in April, why not at NAB?

Wishful thinking. That rumor was completely fabricated / 100% BS. Biggest clue is there isn't a single specific thing about it. Even the time-frame is vague. "Uhhh it will be this month but you know it COULD slip into May or even June. But definitely not later than say July, August or September!"

I can't believe Macrumors even published that POS. It was bad even by their standards. It may or may not be released at NAB (doubtful at this point) but whatever the case it has nothing to do with that "source".

Apple will announce its replacement for the company’s Mac Pro lineup this month, a source who has been correct about Apple product matters in the past has just informed us.

Our source offered no information as to whether the “Mac Pro replacement” would be a tower, mini-tower, or some other solution, but did caution that the announcement “could slip into May or even June, but currently April looks most likely.”

We cannot independently corroborate this information, so this item has been categorized as a rumor.

Paper thin to be sure, but nice to have a good old-fashioned hardware rumor for this thread.

But if they were to release in April, why not at NAB?

Wishful thinking. That rumor was completely fabricated / 100% BS.

Biggest clue is there isn't a single specific thing about it. Even the time-frame is vague. "Uhhh it will be this month but you know it COULD slip into May or even June. But definitely not later than say July, August or September! And uhhh, you know... it will probably be a tower but could also be a mini-tower, or even something else. But definitely it will be a computer."

I can't believe Macrumors even published that POS. It was bad even by their standards. It may or may not be released at NAB (doubtful at this point) but whatever the case it has nothing to do with that "source".

For some reason (I could be wrong), there are no single socket systems that support the E5 nor anything less than quad-socket that support the E7. I thought that was the way Intel intends for it to be, so there won't be any 10-core single socket systems.

I'd love to be proven wrong though.

Single socket Socket 2011 boards are readily available, and I believe current E5 processors, at least, work just fine in them.

For some reason (I could be wrong), there are no single socket systems that support the E5 nor anything less than quad-socket that support the E7. I thought that was the way Intel intends for it to be, so there won't be any 10-core single socket systems.

I'd love to be proven wrong though.

E5 can run in single or dual sockets. It is quite easy to buy a E5 based server that uses one socket. Max memory is more limited in that configuration though.

E5 can run in single or dual sockets. It is quite easy to buy a E5 based server that uses one socket. Max memory is more limited in that configuration though.

Fewer PCIe lanes as well, if I'm not mistaken. But more than enough that Apple could build a single socket successor to the Mac Pro and still have a credible offering.

Intel does tend to charge pretty serious price premiums for higher core counts, though — high enough that I think switching to a single socket design, if Apple chose to do so, would be all about form factor, not price.

As for NAB, when's the last time they introduced hardware at an industry trade show?

My Google-Fu says NAB 2006 for the 17" MBP.

I'm torn between hacking in a new video card in my Mac Pro or tough it out for a new version that may not appear this year. Guess I should research EFI-compatible cards as a starter.

Hmm....well, from my 'hacking around' and internet reading, with later versions of OS X Lion (10.7.4/10.7.5) and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (10.8 and up), really, the only thing to worry about these days regarding non-EFI, PC-BIOS graphics cards is whether or not there is an OS X kext/driver for it.

I have a Mac Pro 1,1 running OS X Lion on one partition, and will soon run OS X Mountain Lion on another (hack for Mac Pro 1,1), and I was able to buy a Nvidia GTX 560TI refurb PC-BIOS based graphics card, pop it in, and it works great in Lion (I don't expect anything different in Mountain Lion). For non-flashed PC-BIOS cards, you simply don't get an OS X boot screen, that's all. I have the GTX 560TI, as well as both an Apple GT120 and 7300GT all humming nicely in my Mac Pro 1,1.

Basically, no need to flash BIOS->EFI for graphics cards anymore.

Now, on a completely different note....Is there a technical reason as to why PCIe 10Gb/s Thunderbolt cards don't exist? Apart from the lack of integrated GPU into current Xeons?

Asus had or has a card, but the routing of video is 'hacky' to say the least....

For some reason (I could be wrong), there are no single socket systems that support the E5 nor anything less than quad-socket that support the E7. I thought that was the way Intel intends for it to be, so there won't be any 10-core single socket systems.

I'd love to be proven wrong though.

E5 can run in single or dual sockets. It is quite easy to buy a E5 based server that uses one socket. Max memory is more limited in that configuration though.

There are also dual socket E7 cpus. The first digit in the model number denotes the maiximum number of sockets supported by the cpu. E5's come in 1, 2, and 4 socket versions. E7's come in 2, 4, and 8 socket versions.

These are both current models that have not yet been replaced by newer ones. The titan is not meant to replace the geforce 680 for instance. It's twice more expensive. What "current hardware" do you have in mind?

These are both current models that have not yet been replaced by newer ones. The titan is not meant to replace the geforce 680 for instance. It's twice more expensive. What "current hardware" do you have in mind?

I'm pretty pessimistic about all things Mac Pro these days. The above post commenting on "1 year old cards" seemed to imply there was something newer available. The only "current hardware" I want is a Mac Pro that is up-to-date, which Apple sure as hell doesn't have right now. I refuse to replace my 2008 Mac Pro with something that doesn't even have usb3 built-in. So, later this year I'll either be building a PC that is up-to-date or getting a new mac pro. Which path depends on what "something great" turns out to be.

Been reading about the new graphic card options for the Pro today, some opinion suggests that the MP CPU is too underpowered to get the best results from the new GPUs - in some benchmarks the latest iMac smokes the MP with the 680 GTX installed for example.

Dunno, tempted to drop a new GPU in my MP 4,1, but they ain't cheap and if there's an imminent MP upgrade on the horizon I'd probably rather sit it out.

Been reading about the new graphic card options for the Pro today, some opinion suggests that the MP CPU is too underpowered to get the best results from the new GPUs - in some benchmarks the latest iMac smokes the MP with the 680 GTX installed for example.

It does not necessary imply that the card performance is limitted by the CPU. If it were, the GTX680 wouldn't crush the competition in games. http://www.barefeats.com/gpu680v.htmlSome apps (like motion or FCPX) do not stress the GPU as much as recent games, and may mostly reflect CPU performance.

"We delivered some incredible innovation last year with the retina display in the MacBook Pro, and we've got some more great stuff planned"Tim cook, talking about the mac marketshare being down 2%I'm 90% sure this is the mac pro, but this is Apple; so it could be anything, really.

"We delivered some incredible innovation last year with the retina display in the MacBook Pro, and we've got some more great stuff planned"Tim cook, talking about the mac marketshare being down 2%I'm 90% sure this is the mac pro, but this is Apple; so it could be anything, really.

Also: "I’m just saying we’ve got really great stuff coming in the fall, and across all of 2014."

"We delivered some incredible innovation last year with the retina display in the MacBook Pro, and we've got some more great stuff planned"Tim cook, talking about the mac marketshare being down 2%I'm 90% sure this is the mac pro, but this is Apple; so it could be anything, really.

Marketshare wasn't down. Unit sales were down 2%, but given that recent estimates for the PC market as a whole were down 14%, the Mac actually gained significant marketshare in the last quarter.

"We delivered some incredible innovation last year with the retina display in the MacBook Pro, and we've got some more great stuff planned"Tim cook, talking about the mac marketshare being down 2%I'm 90% sure this is the mac pro, but this is Apple; so it could be anything, really.

Marketshare wasn't down. Unit sales were down 2%, but given that recent estimates for the PC market as a whole were down 14%, the Mac actually gained significant marketshare in the last quarter.

It's still possible that the Mac Pro is the only product planned for this spring/summer. I don't think this would have changed Cook's statement, as the Mac Pro is a pretty insignificant product for Apple.

I honestly believe that we won't get an new Mac Pro until the latest Intel E5 Xeon CPUs are available - that's not until Q3 - correct? I know Apple could go with a different family of Xeon - I just don't expect them to.

I don't see why they can't just do a "lower-end" Mac Pro with consumer class i7s. It would allow them to iterate the lineup faster with yearly refreshes, and then every other year refresh the workstation class Pro's with the newest Xeons. And it would allow people, like me, that don't need a workstation class CPU (or two), but would like to retain the expandability of a desktop (with non-laptop internal components) to have more options than an overpriced (for our needs)/overpowered (for our needs) Mac Pro or tread the Hackintosh waters.

I know I'd pay $1299 for a base quad i7 Mac Pro even though I'm not getting a 21.5" screen with it. Make it $1499 for the base hex i7 and I'd even go for that.

yeah, and the Haswell E5 and E7 (quite the beast) are not likely to ship until 2014video manipulation can use all the threads and so an E5 would be handy, for photoshop/illustrator folks like me not so much